Where to live in Calgary

7ofBrian

Just did a quick search and found this:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g154913-i285-k65235-Calgary_good_and_bad_neighbourhoods-Calgary_Alberta.html
Might be useful for someone moving to Calgary.

Quote:
Compared with a couple of American cities in which I have lived, there is not as great a contrast between the richest and poorest neighbourhoods. Actually that is something that I like about Calgary.
Generally speaking, neighbourhoods that are closer to downtown tend to be more expensive, and neighbourhoods that are further out tend to be less expensive. The reasons that people are willing to pay a premium for closer-in neighbourhoods are that they are more conveniently located with respect to the downtown core and they have mature, established trees. (I think you will be shocked when you find out how slowly trees grow in Calgary.)
Calgary is divided into four quadrants, and the quadrant in which a place is situated is reflected in its street address, which ends in NW, SW, SE or NE.
Generally speaking, the NW and SW are residential areas. That is to say, they don't have commercial or industrial zones near them. That makes the NW and SW quadrants quite desirable, on the whole.
Calgary Airport is located in the NE quadrant, and there also are some commercial areas in the NE, along with some "big box" stores (e.g., IKEA -- I don't know if you have that warehouse-style furniture store in New Zealand). Perhaps as a result of their proximity to these commercial facilities, the NE neighbourhoods tend not to be the most desirable ones. That is not to say they are terrible places to live. In fact some of them are pleasant enough. However, I think it's reasonably accurate to say that the NE quadrant is one in which younger couples and some new immigrants buy their first Calgary homes with a view to relocating later, when they can afford to do so.
The northern part of the SE quadrant is a commercial and light industrial area. The neighbourhoods that are adjacent to the commercial / industrial zones are not considered prime areas in which to live.
However, the far south part of the SE quadrant, which is well removed from the commercial / industrial zones, is just as popular as any other equivalent residential zone.
Your choice of neighbourhood also may be influenced by your age and lifestyle. For example, if you have a young family, you may want to live in a suburban neighbourhood in which your kids can walk to school and participate in sports. If you have university aged kids, you may want to live in the NW quadrant, in which the university is situated. If you're single or if you have a partner but no kids, you want want a more urban lifestyle, which you can find if you live close to the downtown core.

Frostine

Stay away from Forest Lawn, Dover, or Ogden in the SE. Cheap rent, but high crime! Also some areas in the NE are undesireable as well, Marlborough for example. Closer to downtown housing gets pretty pricey. SW, NW, and further SE are very family friendly suburbs! Great areas to live in!:)

Hope this helps!!

JONJO THE MISER

Frostine wrote: »

Stay away from Forest Lawn, Dover, or Ogden in the SE. Cheap rent, but high crime! Also some areas in the NE are undesireable as well, Marlborough for example. Closer to downtown housing gets pretty pricey.

Id say now high crime in Calgary would be like a cakewalk compared to other European and north American cities.

Frostine

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

Id say now high crime in Calgary would be like a cakewalk compared to other European and north American cities.

You're right Jonjo, for a city of 1 million it's generally pretty safe. Just the usual drugs and gang issues. In fact our homicide rate (10) is the lowest since 1972.

JONJO THE MISER

I was thinking of living around the N.W or around mount royal, killarney area which looks nice.
Anyway looking forward to living there.

hdowney

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

I was thinking of living around the N.W or around mount royal, killarney area which looks nice.
Anyway looking forward to living there.

Killarney?!!!?!?!? I thought I was moving OUT of Ireland :pac:

Frostine

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

I was thinking of living around the N.W or around mount royal, killarney area which looks nice.
Anyway looking forward to living there.

Great areas! Hope you like it here. Weather's been great, was 28C yesterday!

memaul

We will be in Calgary from tomorrow on. Have a hostel booked for the first three nights. We plan on getting a short term apartment for a few weeks till we get our bearings. Can anyone advise any other ways of finding such rentals apart from kijiji, rentfaster etc. Is there any newspapers to look out for or are there any good rental companies we could call in to.

Thanks

Frostine

memaul wrote: »

We will be in Calgary from tomorrow on. Have a hostel booked for the first three nights. We plan on getting a short term apartment for a few weeks till we get our bearings. Can anyone advise any other ways of finding such rentals apart from kijiji, rentfaster etc. Is there any newspapers to look out for or are there any good rental companies we could call in to.

Thanks

Welcome to Calgary memaul! The Calgary Herald is the best newspaper to look for rentals. There are free condo/apartment rental magazines at banks and grocery stores, usually by the exits. Just beware of scams like people wanting to unload a rental fast, with cash up front, before you even see the place. There have been a few kijji and craigslist scams like that. They put up an ad with a great price and get the person to give them the cash right away, when it was never their property to rent.

memaul

Frostine wrote: »

Welcome to Calgary memaul! The Calgary Herald is the best newspaper to look for rentals. There are free condo/apartment rental magazines at banks and grocery stores, usually by the exits. Just beware of scams like people wanting to unload a rental fast, with cash up front, before you even see the place. There have been a few kijji and craigslist scams like that. They put up an ad with a great price and get the person to give them the cash right away, when it was never their property to rent.

thanks frostine, will check them out

tomgaa

http://www.avenuecalgary.com/articles/calgarys-best-neighbourhoods-2012 maybe this might help you, i only seen it myself yesterday

media101

just wondering do you really need to be able to drive in Calgary?

tomgaa

media101 wrote: »

just wondering do you really need to be able to drive in Calgary?

id like to no this 2, a few people on here have said the public transport isnt the best, and if your tryin to gt to work that cud be 20-30min away cud need a car.. love to know how people workin on construction site have found gttin to work witout a car

Frostine

media101 wrote: »

just wondering do you really need to be able to drive in Calgary?

media101,
Calgary is very spread out, but you don't necessarily have to have a car to get around. Many people get around by bus and C-train just fine. Here's a link to check out where you need to go www.calgarytransit.com. The only problem you may find is getting to some of the brand new developments. Hey you can always take a cab or bum a ride though. Hope this helps.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GT Tdi

What do you guys living in Calgary think of it? I'm considering either Saskatoon or Calgary after the Christmas!! Any advice on work, also is it easy to get work in the construction fields? Ive nearly 2 years Ontario experience

Frostine

GT Tdi wrote: »

What do you guys living in Calgary think of it? I'm considering either Saskatoon or Calgary after the Christmas!! Any advice on work, also is it easy to get work in the construction fields? Ive nearly 2 years Ontario experience

Ok I'm going to be biased about Calgary because I've lived here for 22 years. I think it's a great city. It's got lots of parks and green spaces.(Not as green as Ireland of course) It's a very multi-cultural city with lots going on. There's some good Irish pubs as well! Yes the winters can be bad, but unlike Saskatoon, we get warm winds called chinooks in the dead of winter. They come over the Rocky Mountains (we're only an hour away) and bump up the temperature. We can go from -20C to + 5C in a few hours. It's a nice break in the cold weather. Which helps when it comes to construction. Saskatoon is a nice city too. It's much smaller than Calgary but it's growing like crazy, so I imagine there's a fair amount of work in construction there as well. Sorry I can't tell you how easy it is to get a job here, I'm not in that field. Good luck with your decision.